Body cam video appears to show Baltimore cop planting evidence prior to drug arrest
Baltimore Police Department body cam video recorded by Officer Richard Pinheiro appears to show him placing a bag of drugs in some alley trash prior to making a criminal arrest. Allegedly, Pinheiro turned his body cam off prior to planting the drugs and then turned it back on when miraculously finding the drugs. Unbeknownst to him though, the video rewound for about 30 seconds when he turned his camera back on – meaning his alleged planting of the drugs was all recorded on tape, complete with audio.
The video appears to depict Pinheiro placing the bag of drugs into a red can, situating the can in with some other trash in an alley and then later finding the drugs inside the can. Pinheiro was accompanied by two other Baltimore PD officers at the time of the recording, a recording that lasts for about 90 seconds. Pinheiro has been suspended from the force. His two compadres have been placed on administrative duty until the investigation into the matter plays out, according to NBC News. The body cam video was made public on July 19 thanks to the efforts of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender.
It was actually an assistant public defender who first viewed the body cam video and turned that video over to the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. After prosecutors viewed the tape, they dropped the heroin charges against the defendant that Pinheiro arrested in connection with the planted drugs. That defendant has been incarcerated since his arrest in January because he didn’t have the funds to make bail, according to USA Today.
One possible defense for Pinheiro that surfaced is that the body cam video shows a re-enactment of the Officer finding the drugs. There also appears to be a four to five minute gap in the video. USA Today quoted Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis as saying, “This is a serious allegation of police misconduct. There is nothing that deteriorates the trust of any community more than thinking for one second that police officers … would plant evidence of crimes on citizens.”
At a news conference on Wednesday, Davis also “suggested the possibility that the drugs had been legitimately found earlier by the officer who then replaced them in a re-enactment to document their discovery with the body cam on,” according to USA Today. NBC News quoted Davis as saying, “Perception is reality. If our community thinks that there are officers planting evidence in the course of their duty, that is something that will keep me up at night.” The case is currently under investigation.
Written by: Ace News Today Staff
